The Captain's Cook
by theDoctorlies
Summary: A series of ficlets for round 7 of 30 onepiece over on LJ. COMPLETE
1. Promise Not To Scare Me?

Warnings: AU, innuendo.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 1 Ghost

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><p>Luffy giggled to himself as held the sheet up to the light, ideas cropping up in his brain. He took the scissors next to him from the end table and quickly cut out the small black circles he'd drawn on the sheet earlier. When he was finished, the teen put the scissors down and threw the sheet over him with an excited flourish and another giggle.<p>

Footsteps sounded from behind him, the familiar click-clack of Sanji's dress shoes on the kitchen floor. They stopped in the doorway for a moment, and then Luffy heard the sound of an exhaled breath.

"Luffy! What have I told you about ruining the damn sheets!" The blonde man yelled, lunging forward to grab the raven's arm.

Luffy danced out of his reach and raised his arms, grinning beneath the ruined sheet.

"_Whooooooooo, I'm a ghost!" _He laughed, escaping into the living room from Sanji's ire, taunting the man to follow him.

"Dammit, Luffy!" Sanji roared from behind him. "When I catch you, your ass is mine!"

Luffy threw himself onto the couch, laughing loudly. It was a good thing he was naked underneath the sheet. Sanji could have his ass that much easier.


	2. Frills

Warnings: Highschool AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 18 Cute

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><p>"You're cute."<p>

Sanji stiffened and turned his head to the side, finally noticing the dark haired teen standing next to him. Luffy watching him with a spark of amusement in his eyes, and one of his hands was tugging on the frills in his apron.

"Excuse me?" Sanji snarled, hoping he'd heard wrong or he would have to kick his friend's ass. He scowled and went back to making his assignment for class, studiously ignoring the boy beside him.

A few minutes later there was a head on his arm, just resting there like it happened all the time. Sanji pushed it away and turned to glare at the owner.

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded in a harsh whisper, looking the boy up and down. He wasn't wearing the required apron and there was flour staining his button-up. He looked ridiculous.

"You're really cute in that apron." Luffy said matter-of-factly, his fingers trailing over trim of frills and soft cloth. Sanji batted his hands away and went back to work.

It was beyond him how Luffy had even gotten into the class. He couldn't cook to save his life.


	3. Results

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 19 Negative

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><p>What did it mean?<p>

Luffy frowned down at the little pregnancy stick in Vivi's hand, unable to tell what the symbol in the square meant. It was shaped like a minus-line-thing, so did that mean the test was negative?

"It didn't take." The blue haired woman sighed, throwing the test into the trash between the toilet and the sink.

Luffy followed her out of the bathroom and into the living room where their closest friends were gathered to hear the news.

Sanji stopped pacing in the kitchen and hurried over to him, running his hands over Luffy's body like he was checking for injuries.

"It was negative." Vivi said unhappily, reaching forward to rub both mens' shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Sanji-san."

Sanji visibly drooped, his mouth closing tightly as he pulled Luffy into a hug that relayed just how much the word _negative _affected him.

"It's okay, Sanji. We can try again in a few months." Luffy assured him, digging his fingers into Sanji's back and trying to soothe the sniffling sounds coming from his lover. "We'll have our baby soon." The smaller man whispered into his hair.

Sanji's arms tightened around him and the blonde chuckled.

"All right!" Nami clapped her hands together to break the tense atmosphere in the room. "Let's eat!" She laughed awkwardly, ushering the small group into the kitchen.

She left Luffy and Sanji in the living room with Vivi to discuss trying the surrogacy again in the future.


	4. His Kryptonite

Warnings: Nekkidness.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

There 20 Bath

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><p>Sea water made Luffy weak and easier to manage. When Sanji forced him into the bath, his Captain didn't fight back and make a mess of Sanji's nice pants. The only water they had to use for baths was sea water and that was Luffy's one weakness.<p>

Sitting in the medium-sized tub with Luffy in between his legs, pressed back to chest, was the best thing about baths. Luffy was lethargic most of the time, but Sanji enjoyed sitting there with the teen's wet head of hair on his shoulder. It was so easy to relax and get lost in the sound of Luffy's gentle breaths while the cook smoked a cigarette.

Of course it never lasted that long because one of the crew - Zoro, that damned idiot - would come barging in demanding food or wondering why bathing Luffy "took so fucking long".

After a well placed kick and a few minutes to dress, he was back in the chaotic world and silently wishing for his peace back in the bathroom with Luffy and the tub.


	5. Pieces

Warnings: Future fic, AU, language.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 23 Replacement

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><p>He was a little under five foot, ten inches tall with dark hair that was too soft to be fake. The outer skin was tanned and thin, with superficial scars that were carved delicately into the silicone. Inside he was made up of wires and electronics and whirring mechanics.<p>

Sanji stood back and watched as the blue haired man peeled the fake skin off the bot's lower back, revealing a panel held in with tiny screws. Franky reached into th tool box at his hip and pulled out a case of small screwdrivers, picking out the one with the flat edge.

"How long will it take to repair him?" Sanji asked the mechanic, glancing briefly at the clock on the wall. They'd been in the middle of washing dishes when one of Luffy's chips fried, the one that controlled his left arm. The cup he was holding was shattered all over the floor, but the blonde man had been too worried about his bot's well-being to care about a simple glass. He'd just clean the mess up later.

Luffy was on stand-by mode now as the blue haired cyborg tried to assess the damage. Franky unscrewed the panel and pulled it off, setting it next to him on the carpet.

Sanji looked away from the site of the wires and machinery and focused on the hands of the clock. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Luffy was mostly machine and could break down at any moment. He'd been functioning for the last sixteen years without a problem, but he'd started to need more and more parts over the last few months.

"Have you ever thought about dating a flesh and blood man instead of _this_?" Franky asked, his voice curious as he dug around in his toolbox for a different tool. The mechanic was half machine himself-a cyborg-so he didn't really have an opinion on the matter, but the question still made Sanji's lip curl in disgust.

He'd been with Luffy for sixteen years already and for that entire time, _Franky _had been the only mechanic Sanji trusted. Being married to a human woman and half-machine himself, the older man had readily accepted Luffy as his partner.

"Luffy is irreplaceable." The blonde said simply, glaring at the clock face as the hands slowly ticked away the minutes. From his peripheral vision, he could see Franky's hands sunk into Luffy's back, pulling up wires to get to the fried chip. A shiver went up Sanji's spine.

"These bots weren't meant to be long-time companions, Sanji. As much as I love you guys, I won't be able to fix him forever. The parts he needs are expensive and I just can't afford them anymore." Franky muttered, glancing up at Sanji for a minute with a frown on his face. His hands were still at work, disconnecting soft wires that were meant to be Luffy's sense of touch. "The Ds are top of the line bots and Luffy is the oldest model. Sooner or later, you're going to have to replace him."

"You said that last time, too, shithead. Either stop fixing him or stop complaining." The blonde snapped at him, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring full-on at Luffy's mechanic. He couldn't count how many times he'd had this conversation with the cyborg.

Franky didn't say anything this time, instead focusing on finding the chip that had fried. He frowned as his fingers brushed over the chip for the left arm, confused to find that it felt as smooth as the day he put it in.

"You said his left arm stopped working, right?" Franky said distractedly. pulling his hands free of Luffy's back and reaching for the iPad beside his toolbox. He took one half of the USB cable and slipped it into the slot in the back of Luffy's neck - the other half went into the iPad. "I have a bad feeling, man. The chip for his left arm is still working properly."

"Something else is wrong." Sanji sighed, a pang of fear stabbing into his belly. He backed up towards the couch and sat down heavily, his mind going through every nightmarish scenario it could think of.

Frank grunted an affirmative and ran the diagnostics program that would help him figure out the exact problem. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Franky finally let out a soft curse and rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling.

"I can't fix him this time. There's too much-" The blue haired cyborg cut himself off with a grunt, his eyes falling back to Luffy's prone figure on the carpet. The bot was so blissfully unaware that is time on Earth was slowly coming to an end.

Sanji sucked in a breath and held it, willing himself not to panic because that was the last thing he needed.

"There's nothing you can do? Nothing you can't replace?" He asked in a strained voice, his fingers curling into the couch cushions. _No, no ,no. Can't lose Luffy like this._

Franky rubbed his hands over his face and looked at the blonde for a few minutes. Luffy had a lot of problems - glitches - with his programming, but all of that could be solved. All he needed was a new mother chip and a fresh program sweep. There was a drawback, though, that he knew Sanji would never go for. Not after the last sixteen years.

"I can fix what's wrong now, but it'll cost you." Franky said grimly, disconnecting his USB cable from Luffy's neck. He was exhausted and sometimes he just really hated his job. "The parts alone are gonna cost at least fifty grand, but that's only the tip of the iceberg." he sighed.

"Wh-what is the tip?"

"Even if we came up with the money, I would have to wipe his programming. That means everything he's done, seen, said, or felt - all of it will be gone. He won't be the Luffy anymore."

That was the final nail in his proverbial coffin. Sanji snapped up from the couch and stomped into the kitchen, his breath heavy and his heart pounding so hard he thought he was going to have some kind of conniption. Luffy couldn't be fixed, not without erasing who he was. _Luffy can't be fixed._

Franky quietly screwed Luffy's panel back in place and sealed his skin up to cover it with a brush of his fingers. There were a few mechanical clicks and then the bot opened his eyes, looking for all the world like he had just woken up from a nap.

For the first time since Sanji had first brought the bot to life, Luffy was completely silent, his eyes following the pacing, red faced man in the kitchen. It always startled Franky how human Luffy had turned out, even though he was made of silicone, metal, and plastic. Most of the bots he worked on stuck to their programming and didn't know a thing about human emotions, but Luffy expressed them without a thought.

"Why can't I be real?" Luffy whispered, turning his eyes to Franky, a frown on his face. A expression like that - utter sadness - wasn't something a bot would have on its face. Luffy was one of a kind.

The bot got up from the floor and went to join the blonde in the kitchen, where they shared words and embraced each other. Luffy's left arm was working again and Franky had to stop and wonder if maybe something else was going on - something that _wasn't_ mechanical.

Hell, if Luffy could _feel, _then who's to say he couldn't _live as a human_ as well. Like Sanji said, there was just no replacement for Monkey D. Luffy.


	6. Celebration

Warnings: None.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_This takes place somewhere around the time when Vivi is still on the ship._

Theme 24 1000

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><p>Sanji put the finishing touches on the dinner for tonight and took a step back to gaze at his masterpiece. The small table in the galley was covered in plates of food, piled high with delicious morsels of food. He'd really outdone himself and he was just a little bit smug.<p>

Tonight was special and he would be disappointed if his nakama didn't mention something, although he guessed he would be the only one cooking the food.

Well, tonight was the one-thousandth dinner he'd made for the crew ever since he started. He was damn proud of himself and he wasn't going to hesitate over something the others would think was so trivial.

A half hour later, the remamining crew dragged themselves into the galley and Sanji set about fawning over the women. They were awed by the amount of food in front of them, which had been his secondary goal to the whole meal.

"Is this a special occasion, Sanji-san?" ViVi asked, smiling at him as he offered her a clean plate to put her food on. At her question, the rest of the crew looked up, waiting for his answer. Before he could even answer, Luffy jumped in, using the distraction to shovel food into his mouth.

"This is our thousandth dinner, right, Sanji?" The teen grinned widely, giving the cook a knowing look before going back to his food. Sanji felt bood rise in his cheeks-out of all of them, it would figure the bottomless pit would remember something like this.

"Our thousandth dinner!" Chopper piped up excitedly, although this wasn't _his _thousandth dinner. He'd only been with the crew a few weeks.

Sanji turned towards the sink to start washing the dishes, his mind up in the clouds as the crew ate. He'd eat later when the crew was finished, but until then he would bask in this celebration and make sure Luffy didn't eat everything on his own.


	7. The Other Side

Warnings: AU, language, yaoi, character death, gore, disturbing imagery.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_This is an AU with a twist! And an ending that'll leave everyone confused haha. Enoyy it._

Theme 27 Gate

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><p>There was a large house at the end of the cul-de-sac, blocked off by a wrought-iron gate that was twice as tall as he was. It stretched all around the house in spiked, pointed patterns, threatening impalement should anyone try to climb it. Luffy always wondered what was behind it, but as a kid he was always too small to jump the gate and too big to squeeze in between the bars.<p>

Now, at nineteen years old, the fence was just as tall as he was. It was easy to hoist himself up onto the bars - with a little help from the seat of his bike - and jump down onto the other side.

The grass in the yard was yellowed and dry, with patches of dirt every few steps. Luffy walked over it with a hand on top of his head, holding down his beloved straw hat.

The house behind the iron gates was more like a sprawling mansion, with paint chipped, shuttered windows and vines crawling up the paneled sides. Luffy whistled in appreciation as he walked around the perimeter, grinning up at the house he'd been trying to get into since he was ten.

After a few minutes of walking, he finally stumbled upon a stone porch and a door leading into the house. The paint on it was chipped with age just like the window shutters, the wood rotted away. He grinned widely as he walked up to the door and tried the doorknob, disappointed to find it locked.

Luffy took a step back and tilted his head up, his eyes sweeping over the massive stone ledge wrapped around parts of the house he could still see. He took another step back, and another, until his back bumped into something soft and smoke-scented.

"You're trespassing on private property. If you don't leave, I'll be forced to call the proper authorities." The voice rumbled pleasantly against his back as a hand gripped his arm, and Luffy looked behind him to see a tall blonde with a cigarette dangling between his lips. Luffy offered him a wide, innocent grin but the man just pulled on his arm and started to drag him back towards the gate.

The blonde's fingers were cold, like ice.

"What's inside that house?" Luffy asked him, craning his head around to peer up at the second floor of the sprawling mansion. The two men ducked underneath a tree and Luffy suddenly found himself at the front gate with the man forcing him out of it.

The gate was locked back into place and the man smirked as he took a drag off his cigarette.

"You've got a lot of balls to want to sneak into a house like this. You're lucky I found you first." The man chuckled, exhaling a bit of smoke out of his nose. Luffy watched the trail with wide eyes, his fingers curled around the bars of the gate like he was afraid to get yanked away. "What's your name?" The blonde asked.

Luffy stared at him for a moment before sticking his skinny arm through the bars to shake the stranger's hand.

"Monkey D. Luffy, at your service!" Luffy grinned, shaking the other's hand vigorously when it was offered. Something flashed in the blonde's one visible eye, but it was gone so quickly that Luffy didn't even catch it. "So what's your name, mister? Do you live in that house?" The raven laughed, looking up at the house again.

"I guess you could say that." The man shrugged, pulling his cigarette out of his mouth and tossing it into the grass where he crushed it under the heel of his shoe. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and started to walk away, but not before throwing a lingering look over his shoulder. "Don't ever come back here again, Monkey D. Luffy. I'll kick your ass if you do." he threatened.

The teen laughed loudly as the man walked away, forgetting the stranger had never given his name in return for Luffy telling him his. He jumped onto his bike and quickly pedaled away, already planning to sneak into the yard again later that night.

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><p>When the blonde man found him the second time, Luffy was trying to scale the cement ledge wrapped around the house. He'd gotten one of the windows open and was a second away from slipping into the house when something grabbed his leg and pulled him down.<p>

He hit the ground with a soft thump and a grunt, disoriented for a minute until the stranger's face appeared over his.

"Hello, Monkey D. Luffy." The man smirked, offering the teen a hand to pull him to his feet. Luffy dusted off the back of his shorts and turned to look around the darkened yard. When he had first climbed onto the ledge, it was still light out and the man hadn't found him right away. He wondered how long he had been up there.

The click of a lighter was the only thing he could hear, and then the area was lit up by the flame.

"I thought I told you not to come back here." The blonde told him, taking a drag off of his cigarette then blowing the smoke out in small rings. The man looked the same as he had the first time Luffy had run into him. If it was really this late at night, why wasn't he wearing pajamas?

"What's your name, Mister?" Luffy asked him excitedly, nonplussed when the man grabbed his arm and dragged him to the entrance again. While Luffy tripped and stumbled over tree roots, the blonde walked effortlessly forward, like he was floating.

All too soon Luffy found himself back outside of the gate, with the stranger clicking the padlock into place. Just like before, he stepped back and put his cigarette out on the ground.

"Next time I catch you, I really _will_ kick your ass." The blonde threatened, snorting softly to himself as he started to walk away.

"You never told me your name!" Luffy yelled after him, disappointed that he hadn't gotten any further into the house.

The blonde man stopped walking for a minute and looked over his shoulder, smiling in a sort of sad way.

"It's Sanji." The man said, before he disappeared back into the yard like something had swept him away. Luffy frowned and turned around, gripping his bike by its handle bars and walking it home.

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><p>Luffy went back the next night, determined to get into the house one way or another. He jumped the gate the same way he had the last two times and went straight for the front door. The paint here was chipped, too, and the wood was rotted away.<p>

There were two ornate knockers on either side of the wide door, both shaped strangely like the silverware he ate with. Luffy reached forward to touch one, fascinated by its shape. It felt so smooth.

"Don't." A voice came from behind him, carrying with it the smell of smoke. Luffy didn't have to turn around to know who it belonged to. "Don't knock, Luffy." Sanji said again, his hand shooting out to wrap around the raven's wrist. The man's fingers were cold against his skin, even though it was the middle of Summer.

"Why can't I knock?" Luffy asked him, tilting his head in confusion. He brought his other hand up to knock, but Sanji held onto that one, too. "Sanjiii, let me go inside your house!" The teen whined, twisting in the other's hold.

"Go home, Luffy." Sanji snapped, pulling him away from the front door with a tight hold on both of his wrists. Luffy fought him, straining back in the direction of the house, but Sanji was so much stronger than him.

The blonde all but threw him to the sidewalk, but left the front gate wide open, the padlock forgotten on the cement. Now that he thought about it, the front gate had been unlocked this entire time.

So why did Sanji keep locking it? And why wasn't he locking it now?

Under the light from the street lamps, Luffy could see how tired the blonde man was. His face looked haunted, like he'd seen all of the nightmares of the world on repeat.

"Sanji, what's inside that house?" Luffy looked passed the man to the broken-down mansion, almost afraid to ask because Sanji was determined to keep him away from it.

A finished cigarette was tossed to the ground, but instead of walking away, Sanji lit up another and sat in front of Luffy on the other side of the open gate. For a long moment neither of them spoke and only the sounds of nearby crickets interrupted the silence.

It seemed to drag on forever until Sanji finally let out a resigned sigh.

"I died in that house." The blonde murmured, his one blue eye burning directly into Luffy's, urging the raven to believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Luffy laughed, "What? You're not dead, Sanji! You're right in front of me!"

"Luffy." Sanji said sharply, standing up to unbutton his jacket with a pained expression on his face. The minute he spread the dark material open, Luffy's laughter stuttered out and his eyes widened.

There, on the blue-striped button-up shirt, was a splatter of blood. It was spread over the expanse of Sanji's chest and it was still _wet_, leaving trails of blood staining the clean parts of the fabric.

Without skipping a beat, Sanji unbuttoned the bloodied shirt and pulled it open, revealing the blackened, twisted skin underneath. He looked like he'd been stabbed, or maybe even shot, multiple times. Luffy couldn't tell; he wasn't a doctor or anything like that.

"I'm _dead,_ Luffy." Sanji told him again, this time with the obvious proof that what he was saying was God's honest truth. It took a minute until he started to button himself back up, covering the wound and the bloody shirt. "I'm trapped here, in that house, on this side of the gate." He met Luffy's eyes and gave the boy an intent look. "Don't come back here again." he said.

Sanji closed the gate and locked it into place, but otherwise he didn't move. He was still watching Luffy, waiting for him to say something. After a minute or two, the teen finally stood up and slipped a hand through the bars to grab Sanji's arm.

"Can I come back to see you if I promise to stay on this side of the gate?" Luffy asked, lifting his eyes to meet Sanji's, painfully aware that both of them were trembling. He stuck his other arm through the bars to grip Sanji's jacket and pulled him closer.

"Luffy, I don't think-" The blonde started.

"_Please_, Sanji?" Luffy interrupted him, pressed so tight against the bars that they were leaving imprints in his shirt. Every breath he inhaled was coming out out as warm puffs of mist and it was confusing because it was supposed to be ninety degrees outside. "You're so cold." The teen whispered to the man-or ghost, he guessed, because Sanji really _was _dead.

Sanji leaned forward with a soft huff, his lips curving into a smirk as they brushed over Luffy's, cold and pale but incredibly soft.

"You never change, Captain." The blonde said fondly. Luffy didn't really know what he meant, but it didn't matter to him as long as he could see Sanji again.


	8. That Thing In The Corner

Warnings: Highschool AU, language.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 30 Skeleton

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><p>"Let's name him Elijah."<p>

Sanji lifts his eyebrow at the suggestion and glances back at the plastic skeleton to which Luffy is referring. This thing is packed into the small storage area among desks, unused books, and papers that none of their teachers have claimed. The blonde sighs and nudges his boyfriend harder against the cabinets - ducks his head to lick at his collarbone.

Luffy giggles and tilts his head to give Sanji more space, but his eyes are still on that damned thing in the corner.

"Why d'ya think no one uses it?" The teen asks, his fingers gripping tight to the Sanji's shoulders. Luffy is obviously distracted by the skeleton that should be relocated to the biology lab by now. Every time Sanji drags him into this particular storage room, there's always something that catches Luffy's attention.

Sanji presses his fingers to the side of Luffy's jaw and turns his head back, so that he can brush a kiss over the raven's mouth.

"Just forget about that shitty skeleton." he murmurs, his fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of Luffy's neck. He smirks and kisses the other boy again, silencing him for the moment.


	9. Wingspan

Warnings: AU, language.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Think I've been reading too much angel fic. o_O

Theme 4 Wings

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><p>They stretched across the small space of the shed, touching both walls with their very tips. The feathers were silver in the dim lighting of the lamp at his knee although the wings themselves were pitch-black. It made him wonder just how much of the wings he could actually see, and how much the darkness of the shed was covering. This wasn't the first time he'd seen the man with the wings and he knew it wouldn't be the last.<p>

Luffy tilted his head to the side and gave the strange man a wide, friendly grin.

"What's your name, Mister?" he asked, holding his hand out for the man – angel? – to shake. The gesture wasn't reciprocated and Luffy frowned a little.

"You don't need to know my name. You shouldn't even be able to see me." The stranger's wings shifted behind him, closing tight against his back. Luffy watched he movement with a look of awe sketched across his face, wanting to touch the fluttering appendages – if that's what you could call them. They _were _attached to the man's body, after all.

"Are you an angel?" The raven asked him after a moment's quiet, eager to know the answer. It was an obvious 'yes', but he wanted to hear it from the man hovering over him.

Those large, black wings twitched and the man smirked down at him, clearly amused by something.

"You're going to forget you ever saw me." The angel reached two fingers out and touched them to Luffy's forehead. The teen gasped and stiffened – the touch was like ice water being dumped over his head. His eyelids drooped and his body slumped forward, but before he touched the ground, the angel was there to catch him.

He brushed his fingers through the dark hair nestled in the crook of his elbow and pressed a small kiss to Luffy's temple.

"My name is Sanji." he added as an afterthought, before hoisting the raven further into his arms. With just a simple thought, he was in Luffy's bedroom, gently laying the boy out on his bed and pulling the blanket over him. "You teenagers these days are a pain in my ass." The blonde muttered, walking over to the window to peer down into the darkness of the backyard.

There, amongst the shadows, was a pair of amused green eyes looking back. Sanji swore silently under his breath and with another thought, he was gone, the only indication he'd been there at all a soft flutter of his wings on the wind.


	10. Burning Ring Of Fire

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_I've recently developed an obsession for angels._

_Also, this isn't really a sequel to __**Wingspan. **__It's just in the same universe and there may be more like it. We'll see._

Theme 17 Gravity_  
><em>

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><p>The first time Luffy caught a glimpse of the black wings, his uncle's house was burning to the ground due to faulty wiring. He was only nine years old at the time and he'd inhaled so much smoke that he thought he was seeing things.<p>

When his vision was starting to blur, something pulled him up from his bed and slung his weakened body over their shoulders. He thought it was a fireman come to rescue him, but a giant, black wing brushed against his cheek and he knew then and there it was his very own angel. It smelled like smoke and cheap cologne, but it was _his_.

"I've got you, Luffy." His angel had said softly, breathing into his ear over the sound of the flames engulfing his childhood home. It roared around him, but all he could focus on was the chest against his back and the flutter of the beautiful wings behind him.

All of a sudden the floor dropped out from underneath him and he was trapped in stasis, flung over the angel's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The wings beat harder against the fire-heated air, up up up until they were high above the burning house.

It was like free-falling without the falling; like gravity didn't apply to the angel holding him safely.

When he finally lost consciousness, it was to the sight of blonde fringe, a curly eyebrow, and an eye as blue as the sky.


	11. The Scars That Don't Heal

Warnings: AU, language, implied character death.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Yet again in the angelverse, could be a companion piece to __**Burning Ring Of Fire.**_

_Theme 2 Second Chance_

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><p>The first time he met Monkey D. Luffy, the kid was climbing a tree like his namesake to the screams of other little brats circled around the tree's trunk. Sanji felt the panic twist in his stomach just before the stupid kid dropped, right onto a little boy with an obscenely long nose.<p>

Once the panic had passed, he glared up at the sky and wondered just what the hell his Father had gotten him into, assigning him to such a troublesome boy. As time went on, he found himself wondering more and more what the universe had in store for Luffy.

That fateful day had been cold, but it wasn't like he could feel it. Angels were ethereal beings and the elements had no effect on their bodies, but the heat from the fire was something he'd never felt before.

He supposed that was his fault, seeing as Luffy was supposed to die in that house, in that fire. Maybe it was the familiar panic tugging at his belly, or the fact that he was fond of the little bastard, but either way he went into that house. He pulled Luffy out of the flames and saved his life, but at a cost. It would stay with him for the rest of his existence as Luffy's guardian angel; a sign that he had gone against Fate and disobeyed his Father.

Most angels had white wings, pure as fresh fallen snow. They were a badge of honor, something to be proud of, but Sanji's wings would forever be stained the color of death and ash.

All so Monkey D. Luffy could have a second chance at life.


	12. Frenemies

Warnings: AU, language.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Also in the angelverse. Hehehehe_

_Sequel to Wingspan._

Theme 3 Dawn

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><p>When he touched back down on the grass, that bastard demon was smirking at him like he knew something Sanji didn't. The blonde was getting really sick and tired of catching the moss head wondering around Luffy's place of residence. His actual name was Roronoa Zoro and he was best known for torturing souls in Hell with the use of his three swords.<p>

"It's sweet how much you coddle him, curly brow." The man grinned, stepping out from the shadow of the trees with his hands shoved into the pockets of his orange cargo shorts. For a century old demon, the idiot dressed like he was sixteen.

"What have I told you, shithead? Stay away from Luffy's house." Sanji snapped at him, spreading his wings to their fullest, arching them high up towards the lightening sky. It was meant to be a threat, but the demon just smirked at him like his actions were pitiful and useless.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Aho-angel. Your Father doesn't like it when you love someone more than Him." Zoro taunted, a knowing grin spreading over his mouth, revealing the jagged, white teeth underneath. The demon was just like a shark in that respect.

Zoro disappeared without another taunt just as the sun was rising, rushing in the dawn of a new day. Sanji reached into the pocket of his jacket for his pack of smokes, pulled one out, and lit it with a flick of his fingers. He knew better than anyone that his actions were suspicious, more so when he picked up human habits like smoking.

The blonde tipped his head back towards Luffy's house; his gaze lingering on the second story window that he knew hid the teen's room. Monkey D. Luffy was turning out to be more trouble than he had ever imagined, but he knew it was worth it.


	13. Grocery List

Warnings: AU, language.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_For __Serena-loves-Angst. I hope you like it!_

Theme 29 Proposal

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><p>He didn't like taking Luffy shopping with him, only because the guy could never sit still. He was always hungry, too, which meant he piled food into the cart without asking Sanji first. A half an hour trip – at most - turned into an hour long <em>disaster<em>.

Sanji scowled as Luffy disappeared _again_ for the third time, presumably down the frozen food section one aisle over. The blonde was trying to find the perfect wine to use for tomorrow night's dinner when his old boss, Zeff, would come to visit. Sanji was dreading it because, once upon a time, Luffy had blown up his kitchen and the old man had never forgiven either of them for it.

The wine he finally decided on was _Crozes-Hermitage La Guiraude_, the ninth ranked wine of 2011. He set the bottle gently down in the back of the cart, and then turned into the frozen food section to find his wayward boyfriend.

Luffy was standing in front of one of the freezer doors, his hands pressed flat against the glass. There was a little girl next to him, mirroring him, and a disgruntled mother further down the aisle with an older little boy.

"Luffy!" Sanji snapped, grabbing the back of the raven's shirt and tugging him away from the freezers. Luffy gave him a grin and threw his arms around the blonde's shoulders, shamelessly nuzzling into his chin.

The mother huffed in disbelief and forcibly dragged the little girl away from the couple, glaring back at them as they turned the corner. The little girl giggled and waved goodbye.

Luffy hummed and hooked his fingers into Sanji's belt loops, pulling the blonde man in for a little kiss.

"Oi, what have I told you about doing this in public?" The blonde growled half-heartedly, pushing at Luffy's shoulders to get him to back up. The raven just nipped playfully at his jaw line and tugged him closer. Sanji sighed and wound his arms around the other man's shoulders, giving in just this once for a little public display of affection. "What am I going to do with you?" He muttered into the Luffy's hair.

Luffy laughed and pulled away to give Sanji another chaste kiss.

"You could marry me." The smaller man said brightly, hugging Sanji tighter to him, forgetting for a moment that they were in the middle of a grocery store. "Everyone already says we act like a married couple. Why don't we just do it?"

"Luffy." Sanji sighed. He'd been thinking about it for a long time, ever since their second year together, but marriage wasn't legal for them where they lived. He sighed and pulled Luffy back to him, kissing the man's temple.

"I know we really can't. But we've been together so long and everyone else is married and has babies." Luffy mumbled into his shoulder, his fingers tight in the back of the blonde's shirt. Sanji really hated to hear his boyfriend so put-out, but there wasn't really anything he could do.

"The moment it's legal, I'm gonna marry you in front of our friends and family." Sanji told him in a harsh whisper, nuzzling their cheeks together in a soothing manner. "I won't even make you wear a suit." He added with a chuckle.

Luffy laughed and pulled away, giving him one last kiss before stepping away entirely. Sanji went back to the cart, let Luffy throw a box of his favorite fish sticks into the back, and then they moved on to another aisle.


	14. For You

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_In the angelverse. After **Burning Ring Of Fire**.  
><em>

Theme 9 Determination

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><p>After the fire, Luffy figured out that the angel only came when he was in danger, so he put himself into dangerous situations. Over and over again, he tried to get the angel to come to him, purposely burning his hand on the oven just so he could hear the <em>whoosh.<em> But whatever he didn't wasn't dangerous enough, because his angel never came.

One night, when he was thirteen, he snuck out of his bedroom window and climbed onto the roof. It was a little windy up there, but since he was barefoot, it didn't affect him much. He just went to one of the edges and looked down at the ground. It was a few feet off the ground; the house had at least three floors and also an attic, so it was pretty high up.

He wasn't even scared, because he knew his angel would save him. Before he would even touch the ground, he would feel that loss of gravity again – would hear the _whoosh _of those wings.

Luffy closed his eyes and tipped himself back over the edge and his heart jumped into his throat when he started to fall. The wind rushed up to meet him, light against his back, flapping the edges of his t-shirt. It was almost like that night in his old house, when the flames were raging around him and the angel had saved him.

His body never met the ground that night. Instead, he fell into the arms of an angel and looked up into the one blue eye he remembered from that night.

"I knew you would come, angel." Luffy grinned at him, lifting up to wrap his arms around the angel's neck. He still smelled like smoke and cheap cologne, but Luffy found that he couldn't get enough of it. He nuzzled into the blonde's neck and basked in the warmth he radiated, even though the wind stung his hair.

The angel set him down in bed suddenly, but Luffy didn't wonder how they had gotten back without going through any doors. He just pulled the angel into his bed, forced the man to lean against the headboard with his wings spread wide across the length of his room. He put his head in the angel's lap and sighed contentedly when long fingers combed through his hair.

"I'll always come, Luffy." The angel whispered, his voice soothing like the sound of waves breaking on the shore. The fingers in his hair dropped down onto his forehead and Luffy gasped as something cold flashed through his body, like the feeling of ice water being dumped on his head.

The angel tucked him back into bed with a soft murmur, like he was trying to calm a wild animal. Luffy whimpered and reached out for him, but the blonde backed away back into the darkness, his wings curled up against his back.

"_Forget you ever saw me, Luffy. You can't know I exist."_

It felt like a dream, the way the shadows swallowed the man up like he was never there to begin with. Luffy rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, falling into a dreamless, deep sleep.


	15. Broken Record

Warnings: AU, some suggestive content.

Disclaimer: One Piece and the lyrics to Bink's Sake belong to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_I used the Japanese lyrics 'cause they went better with the scene. For those of you who don't know the song, look it up!  
><em>

Theme 8 Bink's Sake

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><p>If he heard that song one more damn time, he was going to kick someone into next week. Ever since Luffy learned the words from that shitty skeleton, neither of them had stopped singing it and it was driving him crazy. Every time he thought he had a moment of peace, Luffy would start singing the song, even during their more private moments.<p>

Sanji stopped chopping vegetables to glare out the window in front of him, where he could see Luffy and most of the crew. They were laughing at something, but he didn't care enough to find out what that was.

He shook his head and kept chopping vegetables, focused on making dinner now. His ears perked up when the door to the galley opened and the sounds from outside filtered in, making him twitch in irritation.

"_Yo ho ho ho. Yo ho ho ho!"_

They were singing that damn song again! Why the hell did they have to keep singing it?

Sanji jumped a mile high when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and a chin pressed into his shoulder. There was only one person on the ship who had the guts enough to do that – the ones without breasts, at least – and the knowledge made him relax a little.

Luffy was uncharacteristically docile and quiet when they were alone, like he had swapped bodies with a normal person for a few minutes.

"Why do you idiots keep singing that song?" He grumbled, not fighting Luffy's grip on his chin as his Captain turned his head to kiss him on the mouth. It wasn't something he would allow the rest of the crew to see, even though they were well aware of what went on behind the scenes between them.

That was all thanks to Luffy's big mouth.

"What's wrong with Bink's Sake?" Sanji could hear the pout in the other man's voice and it made him snort.

"It's annoying how often you sing it." The cook informed him, glancing at Luffy from the corner of his eye before we went back to preparing dinner. The raven seemed to take his response at face value, but he didn't ease his grip from around the other's waist. Actually, he tightened it. "Luffy." Sanji said in warning.

"Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo." Luffy sang quietly, his lips pressing into the back of Sanji's ear, teasing the lobe with his breath. The blonde shivered and stopped cutting the vegetables to lean back into the man's embrace. "Umikaze kimakase namimakase." The raven ran his tongue along the shell of the cook's ear, his fingers plucking nimbly at the buttons of Sanji's jacket.

Sweat was starting to bead along the line of his forehead and his body was starting to warm in places that were inappropriate for his beautiful kitchen. Luffy kept singing quietly under his breath, picking away at every ounce on Sanji's self-control.

"Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu." The raven giggled, mouthing at his neck as he started on the buttons to the blonde's shirt. Sanji breathed out shakily and slammed his knife down onto the counter, twisting in Luffy's hold to press their mouths together with a steely desperation. His Captain's fingers wound through his hair, tugging until Sanji opened his mouth and let the other's tongue inside.

It was glorious for a whole minute before Luffy pulled away with a grin and boldly smacked him on the ass.

"Sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta!" he shouted, laughing as he made his way to the door and threw it open to the sounds of their nakama singing that god-awful song. Sanji stood there stunned for all of a minute before he fixed his jacket and got back to preparing dinner.

"Yo ho ho ho." He muttered to himself, looking out the window with a hint of affection for the Captain he had chosen to follow. Well, that man was just something else, wasn't he?


	16. Death Becomes Us

Warnings: AU, language, character death.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Companion piece to __**The Other Side**__. Basically Sanji's version._

Theme 21 Solitude

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><p>The house stood on a lonely part of land, with wrought-iron gates wrapped around it to keep the living ones out. He'd been in that house for years now; memories of past lives with pirates, babies, and a war bunker were his only companions. In his most recent life, he was once again the cook named Sanji, to a horribly fat woman named Meredith instead of the straw hat wearing boy from his days as a pirate.<p>

And wasn't that a kicker, when he the fat woman killed him over a simple dessert and all of his past lives rushed to the forefront of his mind. He was a father to two children, both boys, over a hundred years ago. He had been a veteran of Vietnam, dead well before his time because of a stray bullet in a gas station robbery.

He'd been a cook for a pirate crew, in another world, and it was the most interesting thing he could remember. If he was Sanji again, then maybe there was something in this lifetime that he needed to do. Maybe the reason he was trapped inside the house had something to do with the boy in the straw hat.

Maybe he had unfinished business.

* * *

><p>The first time Sanji saw him, the boy in the straw hat – which was absent, now that he thought about it – was standing just outside the gates. He didn't look any older than nine, but Sanji could tell. This was the boy from his pirate lifetime.<p>

The boy was peering up at the house with curiosity shining in his gaze and Sanji felt the nostalgic sting somewhere in his body. He remembered the way the boy – his _Captain_ –looked at every adventure they had. He remembered Skypeia and the giant ship crashing down on them from the sky. He remembered their reunion after two years with the rest of the crew, their _nakama_. He wanted to go outside, but the house wouldn't let him.

_He was trapped. _This house was his prison, his solitude, until he was reborn again.

* * *

><p>The second time he saw the boy, he wasn't so much a boy anymore as he was a gangly teenager. The straw hat was still absent, but he looked the same as Sanji remembered him. There was even a scar below his eye. He was snooping around in the yard, gazing up at the house like he was trying to find a way in.<p>

He didn't know how it happened, but he found himself outside behind the boy, with a lit cigarette between his lips. He could taste the smoke and nicotine and it was like coming home. It scared him because he had never smoked in his life. Well, not this life, at least. The Sanji he used to be did.

He asked the boy his name and what he got in return made him feel like his heart – which hadn't beaten in decades and certainly didn't exist anymore – had exploded. The name brought back feelings – love, frustration, possession, rage, happiness, laughter – and memories of whispered words and soft caresses at night in a shabby boat, hung up high from the rafters in a hammock.

"_Monkey D. Luffy, at your service."_

And then he shook Luffy's hand and it almost brought him to his knees. Nothing had ever done that to him, not in all of the other lives he's ever had. Only Luffy had that effect on him and he didn't understand why.

Sanji threatened him - _"Don't ever come back here again, Monkey D. Luffy. I'll kick your ass if you do."_ - in the hopes that the raven wouldn't come back. When he disappeared into the house, he found that he couldn't get back out again.

* * *

><p>Luffy returned later that night and this time he had climbed onto the window ledge. Sanji was outside watching him from the shadow of a tree, secretly hoping he'd get into the house, just to know what Luffy could see inside it.<p>

The other part – the part not steeped in piracy – prayed that he would give up and come down. That he would leave and ever come back.

So Sanji went to him, gripped his leg, and pulled him down off the ledge. He felt his world spin when the teen opened his eyes and Sanji helped him up without a second thought. His touch felt so achingly familiar, made this deep _need_ twist into his belly and singe his soul.

Sanji lit another cigarette – where the fuck were they coming from? – before reminding Luffy that he'd told him not to come back. The teen asked for his name and Sanji seized up for a moment.

_He doesn't know who you are,_ a little voice in his head whispered. _He doesn't know who you are even though he loved you. Even though he promised…_

Sanji pulled him back towards the gate again, forced him out of it, and locked it tight. And when Luffy asked him his name as he walked away, some part of him wanted to turn around and make the guy remember him.

"It's Sanji."

The moment the words came out of his mouth, he swept back into that time where he was dying in Luffy's arms and there was nothing Chopper could do. Nothing anyone could do.

* * *

><p>"<em>I promise we'll meet again. Promise I'll remember you. Sanji, please don't die!"<em>

"_Love you, cap…tain…"_

* * *

><p>Something was wrong with that house. It swelled with energy whenever Luffy was close to it, like it was reaching out to swallow him whole. It felt like the house knew him; like he'd been inside it, a long time ago.<p>

And then he knew. The house – it was feeding off of him. It wanted Luffy because he wanted Luffy, more than he wanted anything. But that didn't explain why Luffy was so desperate to get inside, no matter how many times Sanji thwarted his attempts.

He caught Luffy at the front door, with his fingers just grazing over the silverware shaped doorknobs. The moment he went to knock, Sanki felt sheer desperation go through him, and he seized Luffy's wrist. The contact sent fire spiraling through his body, lighting up the world behind his eyelids.

* * *

><p>"<em>Kiss me." Luffy grinned up at him, his hands gripping at Sanji's hips.<em>

"_What did you just say?" The cook gaped at him, cigarette forgotten for the moment._

"_Kiss me, Sanji."_

"_That's what I thought you said. Do you have any idea what you're asking, Luffy?" Sanji forced his hands away and turned back towards the sink, but Luffy pressed up against his back and murmured into his jacket._

"_I know exactly what I'm asking."_

* * *

><p>"Why can't I knock?" Luffy asked him, bring Sanji out of the memory, away from the ghost of the teen's lips sealing over his. It felt so far away now.<p>

After stopping him from knocking and ignoring his questions, Sanji pulled him back to the gate and threw him over onto the safe side, away from that parasitic house. He tossed his cigarette out, lit another one – he seemed to have an unlimited supply of the things – before taking a seat in front of his Captain.

Luffy didn't believe him when he told the teen that he was dead. All he got in reply was laughter, until the showed the boy his wound. He couldn't feel it anymore, but it was visible. Underneath his jacket and shirt was the evidence of his many deaths. There were the stab wounds from his pirate days, the gunshot from the gas station, and the buckshot that took his most recent life, courtesy of Meredith.

Sanji told him not to come back; closed the gate and locked it tight, but he didn't want to go. Luffy had promised him he wouldn't forget –

A hand seized his arm through the bars and he felt the shock again, but there were no memories.

"Can I come back to see you if I promise to stay on this side of the gate?" Luffy asked, their eyes meeting. Sanji didn't fail to notice that they were both trembling, Luffy more so than him. The teen pulled him closer.

"Luffy, I don't think – " _Don't let go. Don't you dare let me go._

"_Please_, Sanji?" Luffy's voice did wicked things to Sanji's mind, stirred up something he'd rather not remember.

"_Sanji, please don't die!"_

The blonde leaned further into the gate, feeling the burn of the metal even through his clothes. He smirked and brushed their lips together, stealing the teen's warmth for his own. It brought more memories to the surface, ones that he didn't want to push away.

"_I'm gonna become King of the Pirates!"_

"You never change, Captain." He whispered, okay with the fact that Luffy didn't understand what he meant. He would one day that was for sure. As long as he could get away from his solitude and have Luffy at the same time, he was fine with everything else.


	17. You And I

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Sequel to __**Grocery List**__. Let's just pretend for a while that same-sex marriage is legal everywhere, mmkay?_

Theme 13 Wedding

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><p>Thinking back on that day in that grocery store, he never would have guessed they would be <em>here<em> a year later. Like he promised Luffy in the frozen food section, Sanji hadn't made him wear a suit.

It wasn't much of a wedding, either, because their families were relatively nonexistent. They had both decided on eloping with a witness each – Luffy's father-figure Shanks, and Sanji's coworker Patty – in a small chapel somewhere in Vegas. It wasn't like ether of them had planned it, but their closest friends – the ones they trusted the most – had let them down in the worst way.

"We'll get started in a few minutes." The pianist informed them with a kind smile, before she disappeared back behind the double doors of the main chapel. Luffy grinned and jumped up from his spot against the wall, where he had been whispering quietly to Shanks the entire time.

Sanji enveloped him in a hug and pressed a kiss to his temple, mindful of the other two men in the room.

"It's almost time." The blonde whispered into his ear, his mind on the twin rings tucked safely into Shanks' shirt pocket.

Luffy opened his mouth to say something back, but at the same time the doors to the entrance banged open to let in a group of rowdy adults. Sanji threw a glare in their direction, but it died the instant he met a familiar pair of green eyes.

"Are we too late for the wedding?" Zoro asked with a smirk, holding up an expensive bottle of wine – one of Sanji's favorites. The blonde grinned and slapped him on the back, while Luffy shared a few laughs with their remaining friends.

"We wouldn't miss this for the world, Sanji-kun!" Nami assured the cook, kissing him chastely on the cheek with Robin covering the other one.

The moment they quieted down enough, the pianist poked her head into the room and announced that it was time. The group as a whole cheered and Sanji grabbed his boyfriend by the hand and pulled him through the double doors.


	18. Tall Tales

Warnings: AU, language.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 6 Mad Scientist

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><p><em>He was the perfect creation, the best thing that Sanji had ever created besides his prized beef stew. Luffy was lithe and strong, a combination of dead tissue brought back to life by the wonders of science. He was perfectly proportionate, down to the very cells of his hair.<em>

_Sanji pulled his gloves off his hands and stepped back to admire his work. There was only one little thing he had to do and then his monster would come to life._

"_Oi, shithead, throw the switch." The blonde barked at his sword-wielding assistant, tossing a glare over his shoulder for emphasis. Zoro flipped him but did what he was told, reaching over the monstrous electrical machine next to him to turn it on._

_Light blue sparks popped and sizzled in the air and over Luffy's body, reawakening dead nerves and breathing new life into the once atrophied body._

"_This is by far the stupidest thing you've ever done, curly brow." Zoro muttered with a disdain, turning away from the slightly horrifying scene to pick at the dirt under his nails._

_Sanji ignored the jibe and focused his gaze on the body spread over the metal surgical table. He threw his hands up in the air and laughed, his lab coat twirling in a circle around him. People had always called him a mad scientist, but he never knew it to be true until now._

_Luffy was almost finished now. Just a few more minutes and he'd have his new husband and they –_

"What the _hell _kind of story are you telling, asshole?" Sanji shouted, interrupting _Story Time With Usopp _violently with a kick to the back of his head. The long-nosed man crashed into the wall, which made the little girl sitting on Luffy's lap giggle. Sanji smiled at her and leaned down to ruffle her honey-colored hair. "You ignore everything your Uncle Usopp tells you, okay? He's nothing but an idiot."

The little girl nodded emphatically and lifted her arms towards him, a universal sign for children that they wanted to be carried. The cook hoisted her up and wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"You didn't make pop-pop, did you?" The little girl frowned, reaching down for Luffy with a little whimper. The raven was up in a second, enveloping both Sanji and her in a tight hug.

"No, I didn't make pop-pop." Sanji assured her.

"Mm, but someone made him for you, right?" she questioned sleepily, tucking her little head under Sanji's chin. He rubbed his hand over her back in soothing circles as Luffy pulled back the blankets on her bed. Together they tucked her in, kissed her good night, and then dragged Usopp from the room.

Luffy grinned when they were finally alone and looped his arms around Sanji's neck.

"So who _did _make you for me, Mr. Mad Scientist?" he giggled, letting Sanji guide him towards the bed. He fell onto it with a soft _oomph _with the blonde falling sprawled over him. Sanji tilted his head to the side and regarded the man underneath him for a long moment before snorting.

"Shut up and kiss me, idiot."


	19. In Your Dreams

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 10 Invisible

* * *

><p>Sanji moved through the house silently, tip-toeing over the loose floorboards so they wouldn't make any noise. The house was dark and the only sound anywhere was the drizzling rain outside.<p>

A few months ago, Sanji discovered that he had a weird talent, a latent ability that enabled him to get around without being detected. He didn't know how it started, but he didn't really care. It let him get away with whatever he wanted without getting into any trouble for it.

The blonde stopped in front of a door in the hallway, his palms clammy as he opened it and stepped into the room. There was a bed in one corner, a dresser in another and a wardrobe over against the opposite wall. Sanji crept through the room as quietly as he could, intent on the figure asleep in the bed.

Monkey D. Luffy was a close friend of his, two years his junior. Sanji was crazy about the kid, but Luffy had never noticed and it was starting to irritate him.

Once Sanji reached the teen's bed, he sat down on the edge and leaned over Luffy's body; his mouth hovered over his friend's ear.

"Luffy," he started, shifting a little closer, bringing his fingers up to brush the teen's hair off his forehead. "Oi, when you get to school tomorrow, come find me and ask me out on a date, okay?" Sanji whispered in his ear.

Luffy groaned in his sleep and rolled over, nearly smacking the blonde in the face.

"Find me tomorrow and ask me out, Luffy." Sanji told him again, and bent down to brush a kiss along the other boy's eyebrow.

Sanji left the house, and the next day, Luffy asked him out.


	20. Howl

Warnings: Violence, language, AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_I'm gonna go ahead and call this supernatural!verse. Or maybe, Sanji's stuck in a horror movie!verse. meh_

Theme 25 Horror_  
><em>

* * *

><p>His heart was pounding; sweat was making tracks down his neck. He could feel the thing's breath ruffle the hair at his nape.<p>

It started off like his usual night, walking home in the dark with a cigarette between his lips. The restaurant had closed later than usual and his car was in the shop for the week. His apartment was only a mile away, so he didn't see a reason to call a cab or a friend for a ride.

He had been minding his own damn business, lighting another cigarette, when that thing jumped out of the bushes a few feet ahead of him. It was at least five feet tall, with a large, snapping jaw and a mouth full of sharp-as-all-hell teeth. There was no way that thing was a dog; it was too fucking big.

It had taken one little step towards him, growling hungrily, with slobber dripping from its bottom lip to the cement. Sanji had immediately booked it out of there, but the thing had followed him, all four of its giant paws pounding the pavement.

Thinking back now, maybe he should've called a cab.

Sanji dove behind a car and squirmed underneath it, his breath pounding in his lungs. The beast lunged at the tight opening between the street and the bottom of the car, its jaw snapping in the general direction of his body. There was no way that thing was going to get him. No fucking way. The car was too damn heavy.

The monster growled throatily at him, one large paw sweeping out and slashing at his leg. Pain burst over the spot of contact, the wet slide of blood staining his socks and shoes. Sanji slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming so he wouldn't draw any unnecessary attention to the beast.

Sanji's head snapped to the side when he heard another pair of footsteps coming towards the car and the beast froze in its movements and backed away from the car.

"I knew I'd find you here." The new voice said almost cheerfully. The beast backed up further, snarling and shuffling its great paws against the cement. Sanji swallowed around the lump in his throat and ducked down low to the ground, so he could catch a glimpse of who was talking. All he could see were their feet, which oddly enough, were only covered in a flimsy pair of sandals.

This guy was _insane._

"Okay, big guy. Playtime's over!" The man said, laughing to himself as he took a few steps closer to the monstrous creature. It reared back on its hind paws and lunged at the man, knocking him to the ground. Sanji scooted back against the curb and watched in awed horror as the man held the thing back with only his bare hands, not even breaking a sweat.

The idiot just _laughed _louder and swung a fist into the side of the creature's head, stunning it for a few short seconds. It gave the guy enough time to scramble out from under the monster and back onto his feet, where Sanji's vision cut off. The creature lunged again but the man stood upright, his posture twisting slightly under the beast's weight.

_What the hell is he? _Sanji thought in a daze, sliding a little closer to the edge of the car's bumper so he could see more of the scuffle. The creature was bearing down on the man with all of his weight and the guy was grinning like a fool.

"It's a shame I hafta kill you. You'd make a nice pet!" The man – _Jesus _he was thin – said lightly, kicking out against the monster's belly, and following up with a solid punch to the underside of its jaw. It growled and snapped its teeth in the man's face, its claws sinking deep into his shoulders. The pain should've been unbearable, but the crazy guy just punched the thing again.

He had to get away from them. What the hell-

Sanji jumped and banged his head on the underside of the car when a gunshot went off somewhere near him, and the thump of a body hit the pavement hard. He suddenly found himself starting into the eyes of the now dead creature, its tongue flopping out of its mouth.

There was a messy gunshot wound in the middle of its forehead, translucent light escaping around the bullet hole. Sanji breathed a sigh of relief and fell back against the pavement, his heartbeat finally slowing down.

"You can come out now." The voice startled him into bumping his head again, and Sanji hissed as he pressed a hand to his forehead. He slowly crawled out from under the car, and let the strange man pull him to his feet.

Now that he had a closer look, his savior was nothing but a lanky teenager dressed in some kind of farm attire. He wore a red vest with dull gold buttons, cut-off shorts, the sandals, and a ridiculous straw hat. The only flashy thing about him was the black and silver piece tucked into the front of his jean shorts.

"What the hell was that?" Sanji breathed out, wincing down at his leg as blood slowly oozed out of the cut on his calf. The teenager looked at the wound as well and whistled out, long and low.

"You're infected." he informed the blonde, frowning now as he reached into the fanny pack – _seriously, who carried those around anymore? – _strapped around his waist, pulling out a syringe filled with yellow, viscous liquid. It looked menacing in the dull light of the street lamps, but the teen was looking at it like the thing itself held all of the answers to the universe. "Hmm." The raven grunted, plucking the plastic tip off the needle and giving the syringe a tap with his finger.

"What is that?" Sanji asked, slowly backing away from the teen and almost tripping over the giant beast sprawled over the street. "What the hell is going on? Who are you and what is that _monster_?" he babbled, his eyes darting around for a way out, but all the only option he had was booking it the hell out of there.

The strange teen cocked his head to the side and pointed down to the beast, "That's a werewolf." he said matter-of-factly, like Sanji should've known that already. "It scratched you, so now you're infected with the virus. This," the teen jiggled the needle in his hand, "is the antidote and I need to give it to you before it's too late."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Sanji barked at him. He looked back at the creature on the ground and felt a shudder go up his spine. "Werewolves don't exist! That's just a scary story you tell your friends while you're camping so they're too anxious to sleep."

"Werewolves are real! So are vampires, demons, ghosts, Gods, trolls, and faeries." The teen said adamantly, taking another two steps forward until he was hovering just in Sanji face. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to stick you with this needle so you don't turn into _that_." he said tightly, grabbing Sanji's arm and stretching it out.

Sanji watched as the teen pulled a long strip of rubber from the fanny pack and tied it tight around his forearm, to bring the veins closer to his skin. The blonde felt like he was about to be shot up with heroin or something.

"I don't understand. How are werewolves real?" Sanji whispered, wincing as the needle pierced his skin and the teen pushed the plunger down. It felt like ice water was being pushed through his veins; like his body was just starting to go into hypothermia.

"They don't usually bother humans, but this one was under the control of a vampire." The raven said nonchalantly, grinning up at Sanji as he pulled the needle from his skin and recapped it. He pulled the rubber strip from his arm and stuffed it and the syringe back into his fanny pack. "This is going to hurt a bit, so you might want to shove something in your mouth."

"What do you mean?" Sanji bit out.

The teen rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, revealing a silver pocket knife engraved with the name _Luffy_.

"Bite down on this so you don't lose your tongue." Sanji snatched the knife away and stuck it in his mouth, and the taste of copper and iron on the thing nearly made him gag.

His knight in crappy sandals grinned briefly at him, but then the pain started – _immense and burning pain – _and Sanji lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>When he came to, a dark skinned teenager was hovering over him, a stethoscope hanging around his neck. He muttered something under his breath before moving out of Sanji's line of sight to check the bandages wrapped around his calf.<p>

He was completely disoriented; his head was pounding and he couldn't shake the dizziness away. It must've been the blood loss from that creature –

Sanji bolted upright in the cot he'd been lying in, startling the small teen prodding at his wound. He tripped over the clothes on the floor and fell into the table in the center of the room, sending tools and the like crashing to the floor. The blonde sprung up to help him clean, but the minute he stood up, the dizziness intensified and he found himself sinking to the floor on legs that felt like jelly.

"Y-you shouldn't try to get up. The virus is still working its way through your bloodstream." The small teen piped up, slowly picking up the surgical instruments strewn over the floor. When he was finished, he helped Sanji back onto the cot and tucked the quilt around his chilled body.

"I thought that guy used the antidote?" he murmured, his voice scratchy from disuse. It made him wonder how long he'd been out

"He did, but -" The teen trailed off, tapping his fingers together with a nervous jerk. He looked anywhere but at Sanji as the words left his mouth. "The virus you contracted is different from the antidote I created."

Panic climbed up Sanji's throat, but all that came out was a whimper. If the virus wasn't gone, then did that mean he was going to turn into one of those things? He didn't want to go around trying to kill people hiding under parked cars.

The door on the far side of the room opened and a familiar face peeked into the room, his mouth pulled into a tight frown. He noticed Sanji was awake and quietly slipped in through the crack in the door.

"We didn't think you'd make it through the night." Sanji's savior mumbled, grabbing a chair and falling down into it. The blonde noticed the teen had stains on his shirt and crumbs along his top lip, like he'd just eaten something and couldn't be bothered to keep himself clean.

"He's not out of the woods yet, Luffy." The darker teen admonished him, reaching for the stethoscope around his neck so he could check Sanji's heart. The metal was cold on his skin, but it was welcome. "Your heartbeat is accelerated, which means the virus has already infected your organs. It'll be harder to purge from your body."

The one called Luffy – Sanji's savior – grunted and reached down to brush the blonde's bangs away from his eyes. The raven froze for a second, his expression closing off.

"His left pupil is already turning yellow, Chopper. It's too late if it's in his brain."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sanji panicked, trying to rise up on the bed but both teens held him down. "Let me go! What the fuck do you mean it's too late? Why is my eye yellow?" he yelled, struggling in their grip.

He didn't have to ask what they meant, but he was terrified. He'd only wanted to go home to sleep, but somehow he had ended up in a horror movie where werewolves were real and he was turning into one.

Luffy touched a hand to his forehead, murmuring something under his breath in a strange language. Sanji wanted to stay awake – he really did – but he found his eyes sliding shut against his will, lost to the conscious world.

Twenty-four hours later, his transformation was complete and his life as he knew it burned away with his humanity.


	21. Peace Offering

Warnings: AU, graphic imagery, werewolf!Sanji.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Continuation of the supernatural!verse._

Theme 12 Underwear

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><p>Transforming was one of the most painful things he had ever felt. Every time it happened, he could only imagine his pained screams as his skin split and his spine extended and arched. Most of the time, Luffy and Chopper held him down, one hand on each of his limbs so he wouldn't hurt himself. It got easier each time, but he still didn't like it.<p>

There was something else as well, though. He remembered back to that night, the one where he was infected and Luffy had tried to save him. Sanji remembered the way the raven had killed that monster without so much as a second look. He couldn't' help thinking when it was going to be his turn; when he was going to lose control and kill a human. It was always at the back of his mind, like a festering and infected wound, ready to pop with just the slightest poke.

He was thinking it now as he panted, exhausted and stretched over his bed after transforming back into his human shape. His clothes were torn to shreds across the floor, leaving him naked and swathed in the sheets from his mattress.

Luffy stood in the doorway for a long time, just taking in the damage the room had suffered - the overturned table, the holes and scratches in the walls and TV. With a sigh he came further into the room and stopped at the side of Sanji's bed, holding out his hand with a ball of orange fabric clenched in his fist.

Sanji took the fabric wordlessly and unfurled the ball, too tired to complain about the sheer ugliness of the underwear or where they had come from. He just slipped them on and collapsed back onto the bed, his eyelids and body heavy.

And if Luffy bent down and kissed him on the mouth, just as quietly as he had appeared in the doorway, then Sanji wasn't going to say anything about it.


	22. Give Me Shelter

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Last piece of the angel!verse._

Theme 11 Spider Web

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><p>Luffy was the most troublesome human he ever had met. He'd been nothing but trouble, a thorn in his side, ever since he became the man's guardian angel. There were times when all he wanted was to walk away, let the boy fend for himself, but there was almost something pulling him back in.<p>

He was wrapped around Luffy's little finger, trapped there until the day he died, like a fly caught in a spider's web. As much as he struggled, he couldn't break free.

For the first time in his existence he wanted to sleep, curl up next to a warm body and will the dreams to come. He knew what this meant; knew what the bald spots on his wings meant. He'd been doomed from the very moment he'd saved Luffy from that house fire to roam the world as a human for the rest of his life.

Sanji appeared in Luffy's room at a little passed midnight, concealed by the shadows and the remains of his once glorious wings. They were dull in the small bit of light filtering in through the curtains hanging limp and twisted against his back. As he moved, a feather broke free of its siblings and floated to the ground before disappearing into the carpet like smoke.

It hurt to realize that he wouldn't be able to protect Luffy anymore. He couldn't heal his wounds with a touch of his fingers; couldn't do anything anymore. There was still so much to protect him from.

The angel stopped at the side of Luffy's bed and looked down on the teen, his head tilted as he watched the gentle rise and fall of the man's chest.

"I'm sorry, Luffy. I can't protect you anymore." Sanji whispered, bracing one hand on the mattress as he leaned down to brush their lips together. It was the very last thing he needed, to speed up the humanization, but he'd been fighting it for so long and he was _tired_.

It was absolutely forbidden to fall in love with a human.

Sanji felt the heat spread over his skin, emanating from his wings as the black feathers withered and slowly drifted to the ground. No angel he knew had ever fallen for a human, not in either sense of the word, and now he was doing it both ways.

The blonde was startled when warms wrapped around his waist and pulled him onto the bed, where Luffy buried his head under his chin and ran his fingers through his remaining feathers. Sanji could almost feel the spider's web tightening around his throat, choking off his oxygen, but the other man's voice in his ear made him relax.

"I've been seeing you everywhere since I was five years old." Luffy muttered, his lips brushing wetly over the stubble on Sanji's chin. The blonde shivered and leaned into the contact even as the heat over his skin intensified. He let out a pained whimper and Luffy held him tighter.

Three more feathers withered and disappeared.

"Thank you for staying with me, Angel." Luffy whispered, tilting his head up to capture the blonde's lips and pouring all of his love and gratitude into the simple action.

The heat left him all at once, in an explosion of light and white feathers. Luffy's hands were clenched tight on his hips and Sanji had never felt anything more exhilarating. His body felt so much lighter without the burden of holding everything in.

"My name is Sanji." The blonde informed Luffy for the final time, without the threat of having to erase his memory. Luffy chuckled and wormed closer, his body so warm. Sanji could feel the last of his Grace slip away into the darkened room, but he wasn't as bothered by it as he should've been.

He hadn't been a proper angel in a long time, anyway.


	23. Last Rites

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Part of the supernatural!verse!_

Theme 7 Salt

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><p>He hated ghosts. They were very nearly invincible, unless you shot them full of rock-salt loaded shotgun shells, or hit them with something made of pure iron.<p>

Sanji panted as he hid himself behind an overturned couch, the cut above his eyebrow bleeding over into his eye. He didn't know what the hell Luffy was thinking, bringing him to hunt like this. He had no idea what he was doing.

The blonde poked his head around the couch, his shotgun clutched tight in his hands. He wasn't cut out to hunt ghosts and all those other supernatural things. He just wanted to be a cook at Baratie, for Pete's sake.

Luffy bounded into the room a minute later, a shotgun in one hand and a jug of salt in the other. He grinned reassuringly at Sanji as he set it down and wiped a hand across his face.

"Is it gone?" Sanji asked, standing up and dusting off his clothes with his free hand. There was dirt and plaster and dried blood smeared over his one pristine suit.

"Yeah, we can go." The raven nodded, hefting the jug back up and heading for the door. The floorboards creaked under his weight, threatening to collapse. Luffy stopped and reached out for his hand, pulling him a little closer. "You did well for a beginner. Just need a little more practice."

"I should be cooking, not killing ghosts." Sanji informed him, leaning down to brush their lips together, smelling the salt on Luffy's skin mixed with the iron and copper tang of the blood under his nose.

He supposed it wasn't an ideal life, but at least he wasn't dead.


	24. Sounds of the Soul

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 5 Music

* * *

><p>Luffy smelled like pine needles. He was sitting pressed up against his roommate, with the raven showing him where to put his fingers on the guitar strings. When he imagined what his day would be like, this wasn't included.<p>

"Show me where G is." Luffy murmured, positioning his hand on the small of Sanji's back. The blonde placed his middle finger over the string and the teen next to him gave a curt nod. "Now show me where the high E is."

Sanji did this as well and wondered what the point of Luffy's questions were. He knew where the strings were and he already knew how to play. He'd been in a band when he was in high school when he wasn't working at his uncle's restaurant as a waiter.

He'd just wanted an excuse to get closer to his roommate.

Luffy grinned next to him when Sanji played a few strings of his favorite song and Luffy turned to the blonde with his eyebrows raised.

"You already know how to play." he accused playfully, shoving his friend in the shoulder. Sanji smirked and set the guitar gently on the ground before he turned with a hand on Luffy's chest and pushed him back against the bed. He followed and crawled up until he was hovering over the smaller man.

"I was in a band a few years ago. I played guitar and piano." Sanji admitted easily, leaning down to press a kiss against Luffy's forehead, his fingers tangling in the soft, dark hair.

Luffy laughed loudly and pulled the blonde into a proper kiss, all tongue and teeth. The guitar lessons were forgotten for a little while.


	25. Rules of the Game

Warnings: AU, violence.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Part of the supernatural!verse. Also, takes place before Last Rites and Peace Offering._

Theme 5 Etiquette

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><p>Luffy grinned widely as Sanji's wide jaw snapped at his head, snarling and drooling all over the place. It was only his third transformation and Luffy was still trying to teach him the ropes.<p>

All werewolves traveled in packs, except for the ones controlled by vampires like the one that had infected Sanji. Packs were necessary for the growth and education of being a werewolf, and since Sanji didn't have one, Luffy had to teach him so they could safely travel without being killed by other hunters.

The first rule he had to teach was: _Do Not Eat Humans!_

Luffy took a breath and threw Sanji off of him and into the wall opposite, but the wolf didn't stay down long. The great big thing rolled back onto its feet and pounced again, sinking its long, sharp teeth into Luffy's shoulder.

"You play dirty, Sanji!" The raven laughed, twisting his body and sending a knee into his friend's side. The wolf released his shoulder with a low whine and slashed out with its claws instead.

Luffy easily caught its paw and flipped Sanji onto his back, and put a hand on his neck. The wolf's fur was downy soft and Luffy frowned as he looked into Sanji's blue and yellow eyes. He hadn't used this particular gift yet and he was worried that it wouldn't work, or that it would hurt his friend.

"Humans aren't food." Luffy growled out, his voice deepening with the effects of this certain skill. He'd obtained it from a rogue Alpha wolf a few months back and he still hadn't named it anything. Since he hadn't tested it out, he could only assume that it let him control lower level weres, just like those bastard vampires. "_I'm not food_." Luffy told the wolf again before letting him go, stepping back expectantly.

Sanji whimpered and rolled over onto his belly, where he stayed like an overgrown dog. In packs, Alphas made the rules and it looked like Luffy had acquired the standing for it.

"We're done for tonight." Luffy yawned as he stretched his arms high above his head. Sanji growled at him, but made no move to get up off the floor. The raven scratched his belly as he looked down at his friend, unsure of what to do now. "You can either stay there until morning, or you can go to your room. It's your choice." He mumbled absently, running a hand through his messy hair.

Sanji didn't move from his position on the floor, his mismatched eyes hungry as they roved over Luffy's body. There was awareness in that gaze that had been overtaken by the blood-lust, but now the wolf just looked tired.

"Go to sleep, Sanji." Luffy whispered, bending down to scratch behind the wolf's ears, like it really was just a pet to him. Sanji growled and turned his head away.

With one last look at the beast, Luffy walked to Chopper's room, nursing the bite marks in his shoulder. Blood and seeped into his shirt and was starting to trail down his back and chest.

Sanji would feel guilty in the morning when he noticed the gauze wrapped around the injured area, but Luffy would only reassure him that it was all part of the lessons and leave it at that.


	26. Desperation

Warnings: AU, violence, disturbing imagery, character death.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Part of the supernatural!verse._

__Theme 14 Theatre

* * *

><p>He shouldn't have come. He should've stayed at the house like Luffy told him to, because he was only making the situation worse.<p>

The vampire was beautiful. She had short, red hair, a slim body, and a voice that could summon angels with a single word. Her companion, another beautiful woman with long, blue hair, watched them with an anxious expression on her face.

"Nami, let's just go. You've _heard_ the rumors about him!" she begged the redhead, desperately tugging on her arm.

The redhead called Nami shook off the other woman's grip, smiling coyly as she met Sanji's eyes. He felt an unpleasant shiver go down his spine as her gaze pierced into his very soul.

"_Take care of him for me, won't you_?" she asked sweetly, her eyes flashing red for a few seconds.

The effect was instantaneous. He felt the change starting; felt the shifting bones split his skin open. He heard his shirt rip and heard Nami laugh as he collapsed onto the floor.

"L-Luffy!" he screamed out, just before his consciousness was swallowed up by darkness.

He woke to a burned out theatre, the hundreds of chairs melted or singed by ash. He was sprawled out on the caved-in stage, naked and covered in blood, burns, and soot.

"You're okay." Luffy murmured happily, leaning over Sanji to kiss his forehead. It took the blonde a moment to realize his head was in the other man's lap.

Sanjji lifted his head and looked around, taking in more of the damage and the bodies sliced up a few feet away. There were claw marks and deep wounds that let him know just what had killed those two women.

Luffy helped him stand up and then took a bottle of water out of his bag and wet part of Sanji's ruined shirt.

"What happened?" The blonde asked, standing still so the other man could clean the blood and soot from his body. The burned skin was already starting to heal, but it was still tender to the touch.

Luffy gently wiped the blood away and let his fingers linger in some places, mostly on the burns.

"She made you change. If I didn't have the Alpha voice, you would've killed me." The raven said quietly, looking up to meet Sanji's eyes.

"You killed the other werewolf with no problem. Why am I any different?" Sanji asked, taking a step closer to his friend. Luffy looked down and continued to clean Sanji off. "Luffy?" He nudged the man with his elbow, concerned.

Luffy shook his head quickly and leaned up to press their lips together, licking into Sanji's mouth like he was a man dying for it. They'd kissed before, but not like this. _Never like this._

"Luffy." Sanji breathed, letting the slightly shorter man touch him, reverently, like one of them was on his death bed; like he was slowly dissipating.

"_Don't ever leave me_." Luffy growled, pulling back to stare at Sanji's eyes, his voice burning through the blonde's veins. His eyes were glowing faintly with soft, white light and Sanji felt his knees buckle from the force of Luffy's command.

He sagged into his friend's arms and let out a soft whimper as Luffy lowered him to the floor, all the while pleading for him not to leave in that broken sort of voice.

As he lost consciousness for the second time that night, staring fuzzily up at the theatre ceiling, he wondered what had happened to Luffy to make him so desperate.

And he wasn't sure he wanted to know.


	27. Hot and Cold

Warnings: AU, violence, disturbing imagery.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Part of the supernatural!verse._

__Theme 22 Zombies

* * *

><p>The fog was so thick that he couldn't see a foot in front of his face. He was at a disadvantage because Luffy had disappeared and Sanji only had a shotgun and poor aim. If one of those things came running at him, he couldn't trust himself to put it down fast enough.<p>

Sanji exhaled a breath as he pivoted on the spot, trying to make out any dark shapes in the distance. He could see outlines of tipped over trash cans and cars with their doors wide open, but nothing human-like.

He was worried about Luffy more than himself. The raven hadn't been the same since the theatre incident, something Sanji just wanted to forget about, but it was like his friend was holding a chip on his shoulder.

There was a sudden rustling noise from behind him and Sanji turned, pointing his shotgun in the general direction of where he thought it was coming from. A few feet down were a few bushes, blocking off the entrance to a driveway that lead up to a three story mansion of a house.

"Rich bastards." He whispered to himself, pulling back on the pump of his gun and loading the shell into the chamber. The rustle this time was louder and the blonde raised his gun in anticipation. "Come on you undead piece of shit." He hissed under his breath.

The bushes parted for a brief second and a relatively tall man stepped out of them and into the street. He was just at Sanji's height, and from where he stood, Sanji could see the three gold earrings dangling from his left ear. The man was also hunched over and was carrying a severed arm in his grip, with strings of flesh hanging from the end.

When Luffy told him that zombies existed, Sanji hadn't wanted to believe it. But low and behold, this little town in the middle of nowhere was infested with them and the blonde was surprised it hadn't spread to the rest of the U.S.

Sanji raised his gun to fire, but a sudden movement to his left made him jump back and swing it around. It was only Luffy but he looked wrecked, like he'd taken a beating and then some.

"No, no, no." he muttered to himself, taking a step toward the zombie, dropping his shotgun along the way. Sanji opened his mouth to tell the man to stop – that walking into the thing was suicide – but Luffy walked right up to the thing and put his hands on either side of its head. "What happened to you guys, Zoro? Why does it have to be me?" he whispered, his voice cracking with something that wasn't quite a sob.

"Luffy – " Sanji breathed, coming to the horrible realization that his friend knew the things they were hunting. He'd known every single one so far: the ghost, the werewolf that had attacked him, the vampires and now this zombie.

The zombie – Zoro, he supposed – lunged at Luffy, but in that split second Luffy said something under his breath and the whole area was lit up with blinding, white light. Sanji cried out as he covered his eyes, but he could still see the red under his eyelids and it _burned_.

When it cleared, there was a thump of a body hitting the ground and a hand placed itself on his arm. Sanji moved his hands and blinked rapidly as Luffy came back into focus and he looked so heartbroken it made the blonde's chest seize.

"They're all dead." He whispered, falling into Sanji's arms and crying into his neck jacket. Luffy's arms wrapped around his waist and Sanji could feel his fingers gripping the fabric of his jacket. "Don't leave me, Sanji. _Please don't leave me_."

Sanji bit his cheek to keep himself in check, but he was terrified of the man breaking down right in front of him. Luffy had been so strong before, so infallible. How could he survive a world full of monsters if his savior lost himself to the darkness, too?

"I'm here, Luffy." Sanji muttered, rubbing circles in the other man's back as the fog finally lifted. "I won't go anywhere, I promise."

He should've known that not all promises can be kept.


	28. End Game

Warnings: AU, violence, disturbing imagery, implied character death.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_Last of the supernatural!verse._

Theme 26 Garden

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><p>He'd been dreaming about this place for the last three weeks, up until he took that silver bullet to the heart. He didn't know what happened afterwards, but it was safe to say that he was as dead as dead could get.<p>

He only wished he had told Luffy how he felt that morning, when they were gearing up to go after that asshole Crocodile.

Sanji frowned as he walked through the gates towards the end of the corridor – a more than familiar route now – and looked around the small garden it enclosed. There were flowers everywhere; some up to his knees and others as tall as him. It was different every time he came here, but it was _always_ the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen.

"I've been waiting to meet you, lad. I imagined you'd be taller." Someone said from behind him, a hint of amusement in the tone of their voice. Sanji spun on his heel and back up a few steps, startled. In all of the dreams he'd had of this garden, this man had never been in any of them.

"Wh-who are you?" The blonde stuttered, his cheeks heating in embarrassment because he sounded like a damn kid. Hell, he felt like one, too.

"You can call me Shanks." The red haired man grinned, offering a hand for the other to shake. Sanji did so with a little trepidation and noticed the man only had one arm. "I'm sure Luffy hasn't said anything about me, but that's to be expected. It's not every day that you meet your angel boyfriend's angel godfather." Shanks chuckled.

Sanji took another step back in shock and his mind immediately went over all of the instances that might've been a clue as to Luffy's heritage. It all made sense now: the immunity to the werewolf's scratch, the blinding white light, and the fast-healing wounds.

"He's an angel?" Sanji breathed out, swaying slightly on his feet. Shanks gripped his forearm and guided him over to a bench, where he set the blonde down.

"I think it's better to say that he _was_ an angel. He left us ten years ago and met Zoro. After that, his Grace just sorta…dissipated." Shanks shrugged like it was no big deal, but Sanji could see the underlying hurt and worry in his eyes. "He was flying under the radar, so to speak, up until the night he encountered Usopp." The man shook his head and ran a hand down his face.

"Usopp?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah, he was in the little group that Luffy and Zoro came up with. A band of hunters. The creatures you fought with him were also part of that group. They were basically family." Shanks took a seat next to Sanji on the bench and stretched his legs out in front of him.

He didn't look anything like an angel, in Sanji's opinion. He looked more like a pirate or something, with the missing arm and the scars on his face. Battle wounds, probably.

"The night you were attacked was the night Luffy found out what became of them. They hadn't spoken for two years before that." Shanks sighed as he folded his hands on his lap. "I know this is a lot to take in, Sanji." He added. "I promise you that everything will be all right."

The blonde nodded and looked away, his eyes burning with unshed tears. He thought he had it bad, being infected with a werewolf virus, but Luffy had to kill his family. Now that Sanji was dead – his promise broken – Luffy was truly alone.

"Do you know why Luffy kept you alive?" Shanks asked after a long moment of silence, his eyes on the small fountain in the middle of the garden. Sanji looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head.

"He didn't want to be alone, right?"

"Well, yes, but there's more to it than that." Shanks nodded, finally turning to him with a strange twinkle in his eyes. The blonde swallowed nervously and shrank back a few inches.

"What else is there to tell?" he whispered.

Shanks grinned widely at him, so much like Luffy that it hurt, and leaned up to whisper into his ear, "You should ask him yourself."

Sanji opened his mouth to ask the man what the hell that was supposed to mean – _he was dead! _– but Shanks pressed two fingers to his forehead and then everything went dark.

* * *

><p>Sunlight was filtering in through the blinds, lighting up the room that he had become increasingly familiar with. It took him a few moments to realize that he was alive; that his heart was beating underneath the hand on his chest.<p>

Sanji shot up on the bed and immediately regretted when pain erupted in every spot on his body and some he didn't know he had. It was the most unpleasant thing he'd ever felt, aside from the initial gunshot that had killed him in the first place.

Wait, why the fuck was he even alive?

There was a crash from next to him, and Sanji looked over to see Chopper cowering in the corner, his hand over his chest. The teen was so easy to scare.

"How did I get here?" Sanji whispered out, because his throat felt like someone had rubbed sand paper along the insides. He brought a hand to his throat and felt the skin there, startled to find it scarred and uneven. "The fuck?" he gasped, reaching up for the metal pan that held all of Chopper's surgical tools and bringing it closer.

There were stitches around his Adam's apple - more than he could count - closing the skin of his throat. It looked weeks old already. He didn't remember anything happening to him besides the bullet in his heart.

"You should be d-dead. You were shot by a silver bullet!" Chopper squeaked, crawling away back towards the door. Sanji dropped the metal pan on the floor and got up, but his legs felt like fucking jelly. "Are you a zombie? Do we have to kill you again?" The poor doctor sobbed, thick tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Where's Luffy?" Sanji asked instead, forcing himself to stand and realizing that he was completely naked and his chest was stitched up with a Y. He felt bile rise in his throat, but he swallowed it down and walked a few steps forward.

"Don't eat meeee!" Chopper sobbed.

"Where's Luffy?" Sanji yelled back, his throat protesting every word. The blonde hissed and brought his hand to his throat, fingers scratchy against the stitches. They were uncomfortable.

Sanji and Chopper were startled when Luffy walked into the room, and the cups he'd been carrying fell to the ground with a shatter. The next second there was a pistol pressed up against his temple and Luffy was crying.

"How?" The raven demanded, pulling the hammer back on the gun. Sanji winced and held his hands up in surrender, breathing harshly. "I saw Crocodile shoot you with a silver bullet, Sanji. How are you –" Luffy trailed off with a sob, his gun dropping to the ground as he wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders.

Sanji held him tight, ignoring the way his body protested even the smallest movements.

"Why didn't you kill me before?" He asked quietly, running his fingers through Luffy's hair and kissing his head. There was a moment of quiet before the other man sniffled and laughed into his shoulder.

"Because you're family, just like Zoro and the others were." Luffy said simply, pulling away to grin at him, although it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"What do you mean family?" Sanji asked, his heart starting to beat faster.

"You were attacked two years ago, after all of us split up." Chopper spoke up from the doorway, his eyes still teary. "I was living in this city when you popped up at the hospital I worked at. You had amnesia and I was too scared to talk to you, so I got a hold of Luffy."

"I couldn't reach anybody else." Luffy mumbled and dropped his head, the pain of losing the rest of his family obvious in his voice. Sanji was shaking as he brought his hands up to the man's head and fisted his hair.

"Shanks brought me back." Sanji finally answered Luffy's question, although the man probably would have guessed that already.

Luffy shook his head quickly and looked up at him, tears spilling over in his eyes.

"We'll talk about all of that later. Right now I just want to get those stitches out of you." He muttered, motioning for Chopper to come closer and help him out. Luffy sat him back on the bed and the little doctor retrieved a few tools from the cabinets.

"I'll be able to keep my promise now." Sanji told him, flinching slightly when a cold needle was pressed into his arm. Luffy took his hand and held on tight, promising to be there when he woke up.

And then they could talk.

* * *

><p><em>Just wanted to clarify a few things.<em>

1) Crocodile is another hunter.

2) He cut Sanji's neck to make sure he was dead.

3) Luffy was incapacitated.

4) The Y-incision was from the autopsy, basically.

_Okay, I'm done.  
><em>


	29. Drown

Warnings: Language.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Theme 16 Darkness

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><p><em>He walked slowly, one step at a time, aware that at any moment he could fall to his death. He couldn't see anything through the almost thick darkness, not even his hand as he put it close to his face. He didn't know where the hell he was.<em>

"_Hello?" he called out into the emptiness, pivoting on his feet as he looked around in the sprawling black. He frowned as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and continued walking for what felt like forever. _

_Just ahead of him was a light post, with two signs standing directly underneath it. One of them – the one pointing up – had UP scrawled over it in loopy lettering. The other sign – the one that said DOWN – was written in blood._

_Sanji looked around him for another sign of some type, but it was only those two._

"_How the hell do I get out of here then?" he muttered, walking around the signs to the other side._

_He'd only taken three steps when, suddenly, hands sprang out from underneath him, latching onto his ankles. They tugged at his legs, tripping him up and making him fall forward with a startled curse._

"_The hell?" he gasped, struggling in the hands' hold. They resisted his movements and pulled harder, _into the ground. _"Shit! Somebody help me!" he yelled, reaching out for something to grab onto, anything that would help him escape._

_He felt his legs go under first, the ground sloshing like water around them, cold and unrelenting. His fingers scrabbled for purchase on it, but it gave way underneath them just like air._

_Sanji only managed a few breaths until the hands yanked him completely under and it was darker here than up there had been, if it was possible. He tried to swim away; tried to kick his legs free, but the hands had a tenacious grip on his ankles. He was going to drown in this place, wherever it was. He couldn't call out for help and there was no one up there to begin with._

_His consciousness was fading, starting from the edges of his vision and spiraling into the center. He could feel his body slowly going limp._

_Just as it was starting to seem hopeless, a hand plunged into the water and grabbed his wrist, before starting to pull him back towards the surface. The hands around his ankles let him go and the blonde was pulled back up into light._

* * *

><p>"1, 2, 3, 4, 5." Chopper counted out, motioning for Nami to breathe into Sanji's mouth. The rest of the crew stood behind them, staring down at the cook apprehensively. Luffy was the one taking it the hardest, with tears running freely down his cheeks as he held tight to his nakama's hand.<p>

The navigator pulled back with a shake of her head and Chopper did the compressions again, sweat making his fur stick together in clumps under the sweltering summer sun.

"Come on, Sanji." Nami urged, breathing into him again. Time seemed to freeze in that one moment, when the blonde finally coughed up the water in his lungs and took in a breath.

Chopper rolled him over towards Luffy, on his side so he could dispel the rest of the water. The crew gave a collective sigh and collapsed back against the wall of the ship, sharing smiles and pats on the back.

Luffy's hands were shaking as he cupped Sanji's face in his hands and pressed his lips to the man's temple. The cook gave him a weak smile and squeezed his hand briefly before letting it fall away.

Chopper lifted Sanji into his arms and carried the man to the infirmary below deck, with Nami and Luffy following close behind

"He's gonna be okay, Luffy." Nami reassured him, as she slipped her arm around his waist and leaned her head into his shoulder.

Luffy nodded like he was listening, but most of his attention was focused on Sanji's arm as it swung back and forth below his body.

He'd never been so scared before in his life.


	30. Warmth

Warnings: AU.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

_And here's my final entry!_

__Theme 28 Frozen

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><p>He didn't know how long he sat there for, but the snow was piling up on and around him. His fingers felt frost bitten in his gloves, but there was nothing he could do about that at the moment.<p>

There were steps on the pavement behind him, and Luffy stood up with a smile as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"You're done." Luffy smiled, relieved that they could go home now.

"Yup, let's go." Sanji smiled back, stopping at the shorter teen's side and fumbling in his pocket for the keys to his car. Once he found them, the both of them walked out into the parking lot, their shoes crunching over the gravel and ice from the road. Luffy slipped into the passenger side and Sanji into the driver's side, their doors closing at the same time.

Sanji turned the key in the ignition and flipped on the heater before putting the car in drive and pulling out onto the road. It was icy, that much was obvious from the slight sheen on the lane in front of them. Sanji drove slowly, his palm upturned on the console between him and Luffy. The raven didn't even think twice before slipping the glove off of his right hand and lacing their fingers together.

"Jesus!" Sanji gasped, tightening his hand reflexively around Luffy's and bringing it to his mouth to kiss his fingers. "Your hands are freezing." The blonde muttered, feeling slightly guilty for making his boyfriend wait out in the cold for him to get out of class. "Why didn't you wait inside of the building, Luffy?" Sanji asked, glancing at him briefly.

Luffy shrugged his shoulders, because honestly the cold didn't bother him as much as the other boy thought. He was used to it.

"Okay, that's it. When we get back to my apartment, I'm making you some of my special hot chocolate." The blonde nodded his head firmly and flashed the teen in the passenger's seat a fond smile. "I'll get you warmed up soon, promise."


End file.
